Multi-Stakeholder Management

Course

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/E_BA_MSM

Course Objective

Academic and Research Skills: - Understand and know why, for whom and how to work towards organizational goals. - Understand and know why, for whom, and how to address wicked issues. Knowledge of Theory + Methods and Solving Complex Problems - Apply understanding and knowledge of multistakeholder management to real-world organizations or wicked issues. Professional Social Skills: - Practice multistakeholder management in the context of real-world organizations or wicked issues. Horizon Beyond Professional Area - Engage with other real-world organizations and wicked issues. Self-Reflective Professional - Students take responsibility for their own learning of theories and knowledge of multi-stakeholder collaborations, both by keeping up with the course materials and by engaging with each other during tutorials.

Course Content

In today’s environment, organizations and society are increasingly faced with complex social and environmental problems that force us to rethink how we interact with stakeholders – including, among others, competitors, business partners, employees, customers, civil society, activists, and non-human agents. In this course, we focus on how we can engage with stakeholders, for example in order to create solutions for pressing societal challenges. To engage with stakeholders and their interests, we need to apply knowledge from a variety of scientific fields including strategy, psychology and morality, and we need to cultivate certain interpersonal skills. The course will increase students’ knowledge, insights and skills by offering lectures and tutorials focusing on the following themes:
- Why stakeholder management is necessary. In these lectures, we cover organizational and societal arguments for managing stakeholders, as well as instrumental arguments – for instance the business case – for managing stakeholders.
- Who the stakeholders are. In these lectures, we identify, analyse, map and prioritize the stakeholders, depending on the specific purpose of a stakeholder management project.
- How to manage stakeholders. In these lectures, we cover different kinds of interaction formats with stakeholders.
- In tutorials, students apply acquired knowledge to real-world cases and work on a complex problem in an organization or in a multi-stakeholder initiative for a wicked issue. Students are encouraged to choose their own project to work on.

Teaching Methods

Lectures, guest lectures, and tutorials

Method of Assessment

Assignments, participation, exam

Literature

A selection of academic papers will be published in the course manual.

Target Audience

This course is of interest to students with enthusiasm for social or environmental responsibility

Entry Requirements

Not applicable

Explanation Canvas

Communication between students and the course coordinator goes viacanvas
Academic year1/09/2431/08/25
Course level6.00 EC

Language of Tuition

  • English

Study type

  • Master